IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $212.50.

Several brokerages have weighed in on IEX. Mizuho set a $185.00 price objective on IDEX in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price objective on IDEX in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Activity at IDEX

In related news, CFO Akhil Mahendra sold 250 shares of IDEX stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.89, for a total transaction of $45,222.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $910,781.15. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDEX

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in IDEX by 81.0% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in IDEX during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in IDEX by 63.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in IDEX during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in IDEX during the first quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IEX opened at $174.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $178.79 and a 200 day moving average of $191.73. IDEX has a 12 month low of $153.36 and a 12 month high of $238.22.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $814.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.25 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.51% and a net margin of 14.60%. IDEX’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that IDEX will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. IDEX’s payout ratio is currently 45.01%.

About IDEX

IDEX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides applied solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FSDP). The FMT segment designs, produces, and distributes positive displacement pumps, valves, small volume provers, flow meters, injectors, and other fluid-handling pump modules and systems, as well as flow monitoring and other services for the food, chemical, general industrial, water and wastewater, agricultural, and energy industries.